Beginning law studies at the University of Witwatersrand, Mandela was the only native African in the faculty, and though facing racism, Mandela befriended a number of liberal and communist European, Jewish, and Indian students, among them Joe Slovo, Harry Schwarz and Ruth First.

Beginning law studies at the University of Witwatersrand, Mandela was the only native African in the faculty, and though facing racism, Mandela befriended a number of liberal and communist European, Jewish, and Indian students, among them Joe Slovo, Harry Schwarz and Ruth First.

Joining the ANC, Mandela was increasingly influenced by Sisulu, spending much time with other activists at Sisulu’s Orlando house, including old friend Oliver Tambo.
In 1943, Mandela met Anton Lembede, an African nationalist virulently opposed to a racially united front against imperialism and to an alliance with the communists.
Mandela initially shared these beliefs, despite his friendships with non-blacks and communists.

Deciding on the need for a youth wing to mass mobilize Africans in opposition to their subjugation, Mandela was among a delegation that approached ANC President Alfred Bitini Xuma on the subject at his home in Sophiatown; the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) was founded on Easter Sunday 1944 in the Bantu Men’s Social Centre in Eloff Street, with Lembede as President and Mandela as a member of the executive committee.

At Sisulu’s house, Mandela met Evelyn Mase, an ANC activist and nurse from Engcobo, Transkei. Married on 5 October 1944, after initially living with her relatives, they rented House no. 8115 in Orlando from early 1946. Their first child, Mandiba â€œThembi” Thembekile, was born in February 1946, while a daughter named Makaziwe was born in 1947, dying nine months later of meningitis.

Mandela enjoyed home life, welcoming his mother and sister Leabie to stay with him. In early 1947, his three years of articles ended at Witkin, Sidelsky and Edelman, and he decided to become a full-time student, subsisting on loans from the Bantu Welfare Trust. – Wikipedia.com